


two kangs vs. park jihoon

by magumagu



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Eventual Smut, Fluff, M/M, Mild Angst, Multi, No Incest, Polyamory, a chaotic mess, just two kang twins and a park jihoon, pls read my newest update, will be continued
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2018-12-24 21:06:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12020997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magumagu/pseuds/magumagu
Summary: park jihoon finds himself in the centre of the kang twins' attention.A/N: it's been almost a year but this fic WILL be continued, please read the update chapter. it will have the updating schedule and reason why it's been a year since my first update rip. the first chapter has also been proofread, so read this chapter again to refresh your memory or whatever. ksajd.





	1. one.

**Author's Note:**

> the first chapter was supposed to be 30k+ chapters, but i wanted to include a chunk of it in the exposition chapter so yeah - as for my winkmuel chapter, i've been slackin' but i'll find some time to update it ajshladkj.

 

 

 

 

 

 

> **IN TUNE _ 01.**

 

_‘I’m about to explode—'_

All Daniel wanted to do was to return to his room and dive into his mattress face-first to muffle his screams of agony. Or maybe even throw himself face-first against a brick wall instead. The resulting concussion should be enough of an excuse to escape from everything, right?

‘ _Nothing is working out for me_ ,’ he thought to himself bitterly, trudging up the seemingly endless flight of stairs leading to his dorm room. Instances like these are times where he regrets not picking a dorm located in the lower floors. His footsteps were heavy and weighed with exhaustion, usually broad and wide shoulders drooping with stress-laced fatigue. He had half the mind to let his body collapse and slide down the flight of stairs aimlessly like a piece of lonesome jelly.

He’s going to go crazy. Probably drop out of college to be a cashier at that shitty, run-down convenience store at the gas station back in Busan. There, the only thing he’ll have to worry about is keeping an eye on sneaky shoplifters and stingy late-night customers who want discounts.

“You look really constipated and angsty.” A voice pipes up from behind Daniel, the latter not even batting an eyelash as his mind was quick to realize who it was. Euigeon matches his pace as they both climb the stairs, Euigeon placing a reassuring palm atop Daniel’s soft brown hair. Daniel sighs softly, leaning into the warm palm.

“I feel like I’m going to drop dead within this week,” he grumbles, letting his twin brother ruffle and pet his hair in a soothing manner. Euigeon’s hand leaves his hair as he links their arms together to guide the way through the currently unoccupied hallways. He leads the way, knowing that Daniel was probably not focusing on his whereabouts, nonetheless how his body is moving to get to his destination.

Euigeon smiles sympathetically at his twin brother. “Niel, don’t think like that. Mind telling me what’s got you so down?”

“Everything. Nothing’s going right for me.” Daniel starts up quietly, knowing that if raises his voice, he’ll become too emotional, and that’s the last thing he wants right now. (He has never been the best at controlling his emotions and how he reacts to situations.) He has a reputation to upkeep after all. “I have a dance competition in two weeks, and I haven’t thought of any ideas for the choreography. My grades are slightly dipping since I can’t focus. Minhyun hyung won’t stop asking me to help out at the theatre club, God knows I can’t say no to him – and I’m so fucking stressed.”

Ignoring the swear falling out of Daniel’s lips, Euigeon continues to try to alleviate the negative thoughts with his reassuring pats. “Ah, Minhyun hyung is relentless, isn’t he – Remind me to tell him off later,” he jokes softly, pulling out his copy of Daniel’s key to Daniel’s dorm room and unlocking the door. “No need to worry about him, I’ll take over and help since I don’t have much to do this week.”

Daniel nods gratefully and finally lifts his head up to thank his twin brother as they enter his room, only to let out a startled yell when his gaze lands on a familiar Yoon Jisung, sitting on the edge of his bed with a folder. Jisung lets out an equally loud shriek of surprise, not due to being caught, but due to being startled. It was quite entertaining, it was kind of like a chain reaction of screeches. Euigeon shakes his head in amusement.

“What the – Hyung, what the hell are you doing in my room?” Daniel pipes up in confusion, letting Euigeon pull away from his side to grab a small bottle of water for himself in the fridge. Plopping down onto the mattress of the empty bed across from his and rolling onto his side to face the older, Daniel takes back the previous regret of having this room despite the extra burnt effort to get here. He had been one of the lucky ones whose original roommate dropped their reservation before college even began, so he’s had this room all to himself for quite some time. Jisung waves a folder at him, and it does nothing but confuse Daniel even more. Euigeon takes a seat beside his lazing figure, sipping on his water as he motions for Jisung to speak up.

“I wouldn’t get too comfortable on that bed anymore, if you ask me.” Jisung starts, and already, a sense of dread makes its way into Daniel’s system, stopping mid-roll. The smile on Jisung’s lips confirms his thoughts as he once again waves the folder.

“His name’s Park Jihoon. He still needs to audition in the theatre later to see if he gets into the course, but this’ll be his room if he succeeds. Since you’re his possible roommate, you should show him around when he comes by this evening. Minhyun told me you occasionally help backstage for their club, so help the theatre kids set up Jihoon’s props and show him around after.”

Euigeon shoots another worried look towards Daniel, who looks about ready to wail at the new addition to his already frenzied schedule. Before Daniel could say anything, Euigeon pipes up and offers a soft smile towards Jisung. Hopefully it won’t take a lot of convincing.

“Hyung, Niel’s really stressed and busy at the moment, so I’ll do it for him. I was on my way to the theatre hall anyways, so I’ll see this Jihoon kid there. Besides, I’d like to get to know my brother’s possibly-new-roommate.”

Jisung doesn’t prod at the topic like Daniel had expected and easily grinned, looking all too relieved that he doesn’t have to go out of his way to convince the much more-stubborn twin. Placing the folder on the table, he waves them goodbye and pretty much skips out of the room.

Euigeon looks pleased with himself, lifting his hand once more to thread them through Daniel’s messy blonde locks as he finishes his bottle of water. Daniel breathes out a satisfied sigh and pushes himself up to shrug his leather jacket off, feeling as if staying in the hot material any longer in this summer weather will result in him experiencing a heatstroke.

“Thanks, Geon. I owe you –”

“You don’t,” his twin replies with a kind smile. All of Daniel’s worries disintegrate as the other continues speaking. “Take a small nap or something. You’ll be able to focus on your studies better.”

Pushing himself off the bed, Euigeon’s fingers left Daniel’s hair, smoothing out his neatly-fitted sweater and waving a hand. “I’ll head over to the theatre now, so get some rest.”

 

> **DICE _ 02.**

If he was to be brutally honest with himself, he’d openly admit that he was nervous as hell, his heart not-so-gently hammering away against his chest and his small hands growing clammy. He shakes the troubling thoughts away with a small whine, waving his hands to himself as if the thoughts were physical entities surrounding him and taunting him.

He tries to convince himself that he’s fine, or at least, he will be.

However, it’s hard not to place his thoughts on the upcoming and nerve-wracking audition that's set to happen in less than half an hour. The outcome wasn't determined for him and chances are, he could very well be going back home today, packed luggage to be unpacked under the scrutinizing and questioning gazes of his parents.

He really hopes that's not the case. The thought of having to explain to his expecting parents why he's back home the same day he left tasted very unpleasant in his mouth.

He took pride in being quite a decent actor despite the minimal amount of experience. He'll never say that last part out loud though, they'll reject his attempts of going to this school without even batting an eyelash if word gets around. (This school wasn't prestigious for nothing, after all.)

It’s all an art of knowing and identifying emotions, Jihoon thinks. While it was mostly the act of evoking those exact emotions, and making it come to life, Jihoon thinks that knowing how to read people is just as important of an element in acting as letting the body move in accordance to the script. He had practiced enough to himself and observed the actions and behaviour of the fleeting, temporary people in his life to learn how to not be subjective by basing his characters on only his own experiences and feelings. He had to have an open mind.

Despite all that, he feels shaken to the core with unnerving unease and uncertainty. He had no one with him, no one to alleviate the array of doubts start to prick through his thin shield of confidence. No one to assure him that he'll do just fine and might even exceed his own waning expectations. Anything can happen in this audition, and with the limited amount of information given to him about the said audition aside from the time and location, the risk of going home is still quite high.

Jihoon had arrived at the campus shortly after arriving in Seoul the same day, having taken the route from Busan to Masan station, then taking a taxi directly to the grounds. In hindsight, he probably should've thought this out more intricately instead of moving on impulse. He had no place to go, no back-up plans, only dragging his colourful luggage bag behind him into the campus without even the absolute certainty that he'll get in.

 

“Your audition’s in about forty minutes, I already texted one of the seniors, Seongwoo, to free up the music hall today. They’re building some props in the main theatre so we can't hold the audition there,” Jisung explains to Jihoon, the latter nodding along understandingly. Maybe the automated bobbing of his head has become automatic due to the fact that it still hasn't registered to him that he must perform something in less than an hour.

Jisung remains oblivious and chatty, leading the freshman towards the location to let him get ready at the hall. Jihoon lets the senior lead the way by the hand, following aimlessly and feeling oddly like a child being tugged along by a parent. Maybe that’s exactly what it looked like to other people, whose eyes were following their movement. Jisung as the parental figure and Jihoon being tugged along like a lost little sheep. It was oddly comforting, in a sense. It was the most encouragement he’ll get. His own parents only sent him off with money and a pat on the shoulder that should’ve been reassuring, but only served as a reminder that they’re sending him off without much hesitance.

Having moved around a lot due to his parents' work in the early stages of his life, Jihoon ironically had explored a lot of places, but in turn not explored himself and developed properly. Since the ripe age of three, they’ve already started moving place to place because of all the job opportunities.

He never had a chance to experiment with new things, instead only wondering when they were going to move again. He's made friends, only to grow distant as he moved away, and he eventually stopped trying. What used to be a fear of change developed into indifference, into defeated acceptance, his body following and not rebelling against the thing he knows most; spontaneous and unpredictable changes.

It wasn’t until his final year of high school that Jihoon pushed himself out of the zone of familiarity and onto the land of spur-of-the-moment experimentation, thus landing himself in the theatre club. It was an impulsive decision, being convinced by a scrawny kid named Dongbin to join. He had always been interested in acting, having watched a lot of movies by himself as a kid. He knew from the moment he stepped into the small but welcoming theatre club that that’s what he wanted to keep doing this for as long as possible. And that it’s something he would want to pursue.

He took matters into his own hands and once he graduated, he told his parents about his plans to attend a theatre major in one of Korea's most prestigious Arts university. It’s not like they didn’t care about him, quite the contrary. They worked relentlessly to provide for their son. The fact that they were too busy with work just hindered the time that they got to spend with their own son. That’s probably why they were surprised at the newfound knowledge that Jihoon was so adamant on pursuing acting.

 

He’s snapped out of his thoughts at the faint sound of Jisung talking. As he's being introduced to an incredibly handsome student with strikingly sharp features, Jihoon can't help but feel a little shaken and unnerved once more. He takes the senior student's outstretched hand and gives it a small, firm shake, hoping to God that his hand wasn't sweaty.

“Hello, Jihoon-ssi. My name is Hwang Minhyun, and I'll be overseeing your audition today. I wish you the best of luck.”

 

 

 

> **REASSURANCE __ 03.**

“You've got to stop hunting Daniel down every single week for help, Minhyun hyung.” Euigeon scolds the other boy with a small grin, giving the said man a small nudge to his side. “I know he's strong and very reliable, but he also is too nice for his own good to reject you. You know he’ll only follow what you, Jonghyun-hyung and I ask him to do.”

Minhyun breathes out a small, exaggerated sigh, smiling nonetheless in agreement. “Yeah, that's true. You know, I never understood why he’s always so adamant on keeping a bad boy reputation. He's equally as soft as you are, Geon.” Minhyun grins, eyes crinkling and lips pulling into a playful grin, giving Euigeon a small nudge to his side. The latter laughs under his breath in agreement, shrugging.

“No one knows, hyung.” Truthfully, he does know exactly why Daniel acts like that, and he would bring it up if not for the deep-rooted origin with attached hurt that no one wanted to talk about. That was a story for another day, though.

He's glad to have someone like Daniel in his life, although it hadn’t been planned at all. They arrived as a double package, Euigeon being the older twin by an hour, twins to care and protect each other. Daniel was just a bit more protective than others. That's why doing small deeds like this for Daniel isn't something Euigeon would ever complain about.

A movement catches his eye and he averts his gaze from the dimly lit stage, letting his eyes land on the small seated figure near the back of the hall. “Is that the new kid? The one rooming with Niel if he passes the audition?” Minhyun looks over to the same area and nods with a small grin.

“Yeah. His name is Park Jihoon. Nice kid, I met him earlier.” Minhyun utters softly, looking back down at the clipboard in his hands. “Hopefully his acting matches his visuals. He looked like he was about to collapse from nerves earlier.”

Due to the lights being dimmed in the hall as the juniors help to set up the props, Euigeon had to squint his eyes to properly look at the boy, but the latter just paces around in the corner, his constant movements obscuring the pink-haired boy's view. So, he decides to shrug it off and approach this Jihoon kid after his audition instead. He turns around and heads over to the main stage to arrange the seats for Minhyun and Seongwoo, the main spectators of the audition.

It was quite a bare stage aside from a small chair and a fake door, probably to give Jihoon enough freedom to steer the scenario in any direction he'd like to take it to. Euigeon helps set up the lighting with ease, having helped around from before. He can't help but let his peripheral vision coerce him to take a small peek at the boy at the very end of the room.

He quietly wonders to himself what kind of person Park Jihoon is. If he's a kind person, or a manipulative one. If he likes playing video games or playing games with people’s minds. He hopes the answer to both questions are the former choice. He's going to be rooming with Daniel after all.

God, he’s overanalysing people again, he needed to stop doing that.

 

“That looks great, guys. You can come down and take a seat by the side-lines. I'm sure a small audience wouldn't hurt. Right, Jihoon-ssi?” Minhyun speaks up, causing the freshman to snap his head up in their direction and nod quickly despite probably not having heard.

Euigeon and the other juniors move off the main stage and takes a seat on the floor near the walls, eyes following the new guy as he timidly makes his way up the steps and onto the main stage. It's only then when Euigeon realizes that no one knows what the appointed scene is going to be like, and for some reason that makes things tenser.

He lifts his gaze off Minhyun and lets his eyes land on Jihoon, the lights hitting him perfectly and illuminating his features. Euigeon feels a slight hitch in his breath as he lets his gaze wash over the boy's small figure, taking in the boy's handsome features.

‘Minhyun wasn't kidding when he said this boy’s visual is quite something,’ he thought to himself, biting down onto his lower lip. He crosses his arms and sits up straight against the wall, now slightly more intrigued.

“Alright. Park Jihoon, 19-year-old, freshman. I will now give you your scene.” Minhyun states, his expression fostering a more serious look. Even Seongwoo, who is quite known to be nothing short of a gifted comedian is harbouring a piqued expression. Jihoon trembled a little under their gaze.

“You are a seventeen-year-old teenager who just came out gay to his parents, who, upon the news, quickly forgot their love for him and decided to disown him. You may choose to lead the scene in any way you'd like. Be creative.”

 

Jihoon’s pretty eyes rounded for a split second and he grows quiet, soaking it in and nodding quietly to himself. He starts to move back towards the fake door and stands behind it, breathing in and out quietly. Minhyun’s eyes followed him even as his body disappears behind the barrier.

Jihoon lets his mind wander into the mind of a boy who's hopelessly devoted to the guy of his dreams. He's been nothing but pampered and adored by this person, and he wanted to share his happiness to his parents, only to have those hopes crashed and stomped on in a split second.

Jihoon wouldn't know how to deal with it.

In his character’s world, everything up to the point of his character's seventeen years of living had been brimmed with love from all factors of his life. His family was the most affectionate, having had showered him with endless support and love. They wouldn't throw all that away just because of his sexuality… right?

The audience in front of the stage stared at each other questioningly. Was Jihoon not ready yet? It's been about two to three minutes already. Euigeon's eyebrow draw together into a small frown.

Minhyun’s face is still set on a patient and serious expression, eyes fixed on the door handle. He doesn't know what Jihoon was capable of, so he sets his expectations to a slightly low standard.

If Jihoon was to follow the pre-made script they already had, he would burst through that door in hysterics, disbelieving and a sobbing mess.

What was Jihoon planning?

Everyone's murmurs fade into silence as the door handle twists open, and they all sit up in anticipation, waiting for the newbie to pull out the waterworks and start crying in front of everyone.

“Woo Sungjin, are you a fucking idiot?” Jihoon mutters softly under his breath as he slowly pushes the door open. The swear word spoken in such a sweet, composed manner was almost as poisonous as it would be if spoken in an angrier tone.

His previously tidy red cashmere cardigan was now precariously hanging off his shoulder, and his neatly-styled hair looked like someone had tugged and pulled on it ravenously. It took a few seconds for people to realize that the pigmented look on Jihoon’s lips probably resulted from being bitten raw.

An eerily serene smile was stretching those abused lips, yet his eyes were lost and uncertain. His steps towards the chair on the centre of the stage was unstable and lacked any form of energy.

From the corner of his eyes, Euigeon spots Minhyun, who was previously scribbling notes onto the clipboard completely halt his actions to key in on the performance, intrigued by the puzzling silence.

“Woo Sungjin.” Jihoon repeats, completely immersed in his role. He was no longer Jihoon, but Sungjin who knows nothing but denial of his parent's newfound hatred for his sexuality.

He is Woo Sungjin, a boy who wants nothing but love and affection and must choose between two drastically differing options.

 

He is Woo Sungjin, who will ultimately make the wrong choice.

 

“You are not gay. You're not.”

Minhyun inhaled sharply and Seongwoo sits up straighter on his seat, fingers gripping onto the drink in his hand tightly. They both exchange a look of confusion and return their gazes to the stage. The audience is drawn in.

“This is a phase. You're not gay.” Jihoon continues, having reached the chair but blankly staring at it instead of taking a seat. His face is worryingly empty and lacking aside from the empty smile, and Euigeon doesn't know how to feel. His mind’s first instinct was to be unreasonably mad and question Jihoon’s character’s choices, but at the same time, he feels as lost as this Sungjin character.

“They are your parents. They've loved you all your life,” he continues, eyes crinkling into small crescents as his lips pull into an ugly attempt of a forced smile. His eyebrows pull together into a frown, the sad attempt of a smile still pasted on his lips. His smile is pointed to the chair as he chokes out the next few words. “They wouldn't lie to you if they said liking boys is wrong – They raised you, they – they… Sungjin, they're your fucking parents!”

With that exclamation, a startlingly loud crash echoes in the hall as Jihoon kicks the chair away aggressively, the weak stool flying across the stage. Everyone is startled into complete silence, Euigeon's eyes blown wide with shock. A sophomore beside him slapped her palms over her mouth to muffle a gasp. He looks over at Minhyun once more, whose pen has long rolled away onto the floor.

“Minwoo was probably brainwashing you, that’s it. This is wrong. This is wrong, Sungjin... Minwoo is a bad person…”

When Euigeon lifts his gaze up to the lone figure on the stage, he’s once again surprised to see the lights catch onto the wild, wet streaks of tears down Jihoon’s cheeks. And yet – the ugly, twisted smile is still on his lips, eyes now gazing up at the ceiling with a soft sheen. It was as if Jihoon’s surroundings have completely crumbled into shambles around him, and all he can do is stare up into emptiness in complete and utter despair.

“He's a bad, bad person…”

It was indescribable, this gut-wrenching feeling. For the most part, Jihoon character was so psychologically broken by his parent's refusal, and yet his final gaze up at the empty ceiling poured out more emotions than any actors he’s seen. The denial of his own sexuality was so hard-hitting that the audience felt more helpless than the character, and yet, the one pair of eyes desperately seeking help under the pretence of ignorance was more painful.

 

“You may stop there, Jihoon-ah.” Minhyun's quiet voice pierces through the heavy silence, rousing the audience up from the speechlessness. The senior was leaning down to pick up his pen once more, clearing his throat as he furiously scribbles on the clipboard.

“I don't think ‘no’ would be a choice in this situation whatsoever.” He starts up, Seongwoo nodding with a soft smile forming on his lips. Jihoon wipes at the tears.

“That was a spectacular performance. The thought you put into your character and the choice of dialogue was so well-done, especially for only having a few minutes to prepare. It wasn't the scenario we were expecting, and the direction you took it in wasn't what we had in mind, yet it was very realistic in its own way. We could really use your creativity and acting here.”

Euigeon nods along with a small grin, moving his gaze back to the small actor on the stage.

 

His breath catches in his throat.

Jihoon’s previous expression that lacked any obvious emotion has completely changed, cheeks lifting as the corners of his lips pulled into a bright smile. He thinks it was because the younger boy was too plagued with doubt and worry to bring himself to smile earlier on, but now that he is – god damn. Euigeon thinks he might be seeing stars in Jihoon’s pretty eyes. Maybe even a full galaxy.

He can’t pry his eyes away from the beautiful boy.

“Ah, thank you so much, hyung.” Jihoon’s soft voice speaks up, the previous malice and anger in his tone having had dissipated into a warm, gentle murmur. Actor Jihoon and Real Jihoon had a stark difference between them, and Euigeon can’t help but want to admire the Jihoon currently present in front of his right now.

It was almost as if amidst all that chaos of self-loathe and deprecation, Euigeon has finally seen through it and everything seems more bright and magical, as cheesy as it sounds. He shouldn’t be this affected by a single smile, yet he feels his lips drop open as he openly gawks.

Jihoon’s eyes find his in the dimmed light, and he feels his breath stop once more, forcing himself to give a small wave and a thumbs-up. Jihoon’s smile grows a bit brighter, eyes lingering on Euigeon for a second too long before bowing and moving off the stage. (He stops and jogs back to the stage to pick up the chair he kicked earlier, giving it a small pat.)

 

 

> **SACCHARINE __ 04.**

 

“Jihoon-ssi, wait up –“ a voice calls out after him just as he’s passing the exit doors of the music hall leaving onto the main campus grounds.

Jihoon turns his head and feels his eyes grow round for a split second.

The same boy from earlier is running after him. The same guy whose smile after his performance was almost as reassuring as Minhyun’s approving comments. This man was a stranger, yet, Jihoon was already looking forward to seeing the same proud grin on his lips earlier. Yet this stranger remained unknown and nameless, so Jihoon was secretly happy that the latter had approached him.

“Hey –“ the guy starts off, almost breathless. (Whether that was due to him running or due to something else, Jihoon wasn’t sure.)

“You did really, really well back there,” the handsome stranger starts off, the low timbre of his voice warm and familiar. It had faint accents of the Busan dialect sticking along to each word, and Jihoon feels at ease almost immediately, cheeks growing a gentle pink hue.

“I’m Kang Euigeon, very pleased to meet you,” he continues, lips stretching into a small smile. His two front teeth become visible despite that minimal smile, and Jihoon can almost immediately compare him to a bunny.

“Park Jihoon, nice to meet you too!” Jihoon chirps, bowing despite wanting to keep his eyes on Euigeon’s face a bit more. Minhyun mentioned that he was a junior, so ogling his handsomeness aside, Jihoon still showed honorifics. He’s still only just a freshman after all.

“Mm, I know.”

Jihoon straightens up with a sheepish grin. “Ah, from the audition –“

“Oh, not just that,” Euigeon grins, fixing his posture and shaking his head, soft pink hair bouncing softly at the movement. “I’m showing you around in place for my twin, since he’s really busy right now. You’re going to be roommates with him.”

“That wasn’t a lot to take in right? I know this place is pretty huge after all.” Euigeon murmurs worriedly to Jihoon who sat across from him. Euigeon, as promised, had taken the smaller boy around on a small tour around the campus, showing him the different facilities and even the clubs and societies. Jihoon thinks it _was_ a lot to take in in one day, but he shakes his head politely, fingers curling around the cool treat in his hands.

Euigeon had bought him some ice cream despite his protests that he can pay for the frozen treat. The tall junior only shook his head and nudged the small paper cup into Jihoon’s hands, giving him no choice but to accept the it with a shy, grateful smile.

“As for Daniel – You don’t have to worry too much about him. Let me let you in for a small secret,” the pink-haired boy says with a small grin, curling a finger to motion Jihoon closer. The latter blinks and shifts on his seat, leaning his head closer to let Euigeon whisper into his ear. His breath was warm against the shell of his ear and Jihoon suppresses a small shiver.

“He has a bad boy reputation, but don’t let that faze you. He’s just a brave, soft boy. Mention cats in front of him and he’ll melt.” Euigeon chuckles softly, pulling back after saying everything he needed to say, only to pause momentarily at the pink hue forming on Jihoon’s cheeks at the previously-close proximity. Euigeon couldn’t help but feel his own ears warm up.

“You won’t get too confused either, I promise. We’re twins, but we’re a bit different in terms of style and fashion. Or just. Personality in general.” Euigeon states with a small snort, a faint tone of fondness seeping in between his words. Jihoon laughs softly under his breath once more and Euigeon can’t resist looking up at the younger boy.

In the forty-five-minute duration of Euigeon showing Jihoon around the grounds, he’s pretty sure his heart had accelerated more times than he can count.

Needless to say, Euigeon has never seen a smile prettier than Jihoon’s, and while that might be a bit of a stretch, it was undeniably true. There was something in the way Jihoon’s eyes sparkle with genuine delight at Euigeon’s lame puns. The way the tone of his voice rises and drops as he laughs at Euigeon’s nonsensical, panicked commentary to himself whenever he sees a bug or insect. The way his smaller body shakes with laughter, holding onto Euigeon’s forearm to compose himself.

This was bad. It had only been an hour and a half in total that they’ve met and Euigeon was already immensely attracted to this adorable boy.

Euigeon clears his throat and focuses on his own ice cream, humming lowly under his breath at the sweet taste. He continues to eat and remains unaware that a small streak of white cream had striped across his top lip. It was only until gentle hands reach over the table with a soft tissue to carefully wipe away the remnants on his lip, that he notices. His eyes grow round for a split second and he lifts his gaze back up to Jihoon’s face, whose expression had morphed into one of concentration and focus.

It was such a small task, yet Jihoon looked so focused and determined and – Euigeon sucks in a small breath. Could this boy get any more precious?

Jihoon pulls his hand away with a forming sheepish smile on his soft lips, lowering his gaze to his cup of ice cream and murmuring quietly. “Was I too close, I didn’t –”

“You’re fine, Jihoon-ah. Thank you.”

Euigeon secretly thinks that this was like a cliché moment from a manhwa or a k-drama that he had recently watched with Minhyun. Only in this moment, he wonders if it was even more cliché to wonder what it would feel like if Jihoon had kissed it away instead.

His eyes widened at his own thoughts.

Shit.

 

 

 

> **CRISP __ 05.**

Soon enough, after a few more minutes of casual conversation and eating ice cream with shy smiles on their lips, they decided to part ways from each other for the night, Euigeon receiving a phone call from Jonghyun (his roommate) asking if he can help him out at the library with some documents. Jihoon waved the other goodbye as Euigeon heads off, sighing softly to himself in content.

So far, his first day here wasn’t a complete disaster. In fact, it went by way better than he could’ve ever hoped for. With a happy smile, he heads out and goes to a fried chicken fast food chain to buy some dinner and snacks for his roommate. After all, he might know Euigeon now, but he has yet to meet Daniel, the actual person he’s going to be staying with for most of his college life.

 

There’s a small bounce with every step he takes, unable to remove the small smile on his lips. He tries to convince himself that it was due to everything happening the way he wanted it to happen that day, but another part of his brain is pointing big arrows to a certain boy from earlier.

Kang Euigeon. The tall boy with the soft pink hair and a beauty mark under his right eye and a bright bunny-like grin. The handsome boy who cannot, for some reason, stop laughing at anything and everything in his surroundings. Kang Euigeon, who, for some reason managed to attract Jihoon’s attention almost immediately. Jihoon sighs dreamily to himself as he waits on the small chair for his order.

He had ordered some fried chicken, fried chips, and some side dishes, just enough of an amount for Daniel and him to share. Thankfully, Euigeon had mentioned that Daniel had a huge appetite for absolutely anything edible and will probably praise Jihoon’s thoughtful purchase.

Jihoon silently wonders to himself what kind of person Kang Daniel was, despite his brother’s obviously affectionate speech about his twin. The information of Daniel having a so-called ‘bad attitude’ persona to the rest of the school population intimidates him slightly if he were to be quite honest. Even though Euigeon had debunked that whole ‘angsty and angry’ side of Daniel, Jihoon couldn’t help but worry. Hopefully they get along, just like how he got along with Euigeon.

Paying for the food after receiving it in a small bag, Jihoon greets the staff goodbye and heads back to the campus grounds just before curfew, thankfully. He heads towards the building that Jisung had showed him earlier and bemoans the fact that his dorm was flights and flights of stairs up. He pushes his legs to do the work nonetheless and reaches the room in no time. There were only a few students loitering out on the hallways, since it’s already evening.

 

Pushing the keys into the lock, he twists and carefully steps into the room silently, mindful just in case Daniel was still focusing on his work. Locking the door behind him, Jihoon looks around the slightly dimmed room and found his eyes zeroing in on a slumped figure on top of one of the couches. He muffles a small gasp of surprise and slowly approached.

He puts down the food on the small coffee table in the centre of the room and furrows his eyebrows in mild curiosity. A leather jacket was draped over the figure as a makeshift blanket and he was sleeping peacefully, despite the seemingly uncomfortable positioning of the limbs. Jihoon inwardly winces at how sore that must be in the morning.

Curiosity getting the best of him, he found himself kneeling beside the bed to observe his roommate’s face, eyes widening for a short moment.

Daniel was almost the exact replica of Euigeon, with a slight contrast. Euigeon’s hair was cotton candy pink, whereas Daniel’s hair was a dark blond colour, feathering over his shut lids. (Was that kohl eyeliner smudged on the corners of his lids?) Daniel had an almost identical mole under his eye, except his was on the left. Other than that, and Daniel’s obviously heavier sense of fashion, they were almost identical. Jihoon was both intrigued and perturbed, murmuring a quiet ‘woah’ under his breath.

Suddenly, the corners of Daniel’s lips curled up into a playful smirk, eyes blinking open and meeting Jihoon’s rounded eyes almost as soon as they open. Jihoon lets out a small squeak and falls back onto his butt on the carpet behind him, feeling his heart erratically hammering against his chest.

God, that scared him –

“Don’t you think it’s a little Edward Cullen-ish to watch me sleep?” Daniel’s low and rumbling voice utters out, fingers combing through his hair to push it away from his forehead as his other hand pushes himself up into a seated position. Jihoon was still unable to speak, feeling breathless from shock. He could only breathe out a quiet ‘God..’ under his breath, which doesn’t go by unnoticed.

Daniel laughs in that same low voice, sleepiness faintly clinging to his words. “Not God, Jihoon-ssi. The name is Kang Daniel. Pleasure meeting you, sweet cheeks. I’m assuming you’re my roommate.”

Jihoon was wondering earlier how he was going to be able to differentiate between the twins despite some differences in appearance. He takes that back, there was a huge difference. Huge.

He clears his throat and pushes himself off the carpet with a sheepish cough, avoiding the gaze Daniel was shooting him. He didn’t even need to look; the amusement in Daniel’s eyes was almost loud enough to hear without any help.

“Nice to.. Nice to meet you, too, Kang Daniel-ssi.” Jihoon murmurs shyly, running back to the coffee table and grabbing the bag of food, thrusting it up into the air almost aggressively, cheeks still burning from the embarrassment earlier from getting caught. (He thinks a single French fry flew out of the plastic bag. He simply kicks it aside, much to Daniel’s amusement.) “I – I bought food! To eat and to share, yes – I bought some.. chicken.”

Jihoon wanted to die, what’s wrong with him?

“Cute.” Daniel comments with a small grin, and if it was possible, Jihoon’s cheek grow even warmer, his fingers practically shaking as it holds onto the bag of chicken. Daniel grins and pushes himself off the couch and strides over to the centre of the room, where Jihoon was standing. “Thanks, Jihoon-ah. Mm, let’s eat. I’m starving. But first –”

Daniel stretches his hand out for Jihoon to take, the smirk from earlier fading into something easier and genuine. Jihoon blinks.

“Let’s be good roommates to each other, okay?”

Jihoon thinks that despite the slight intimidation he felt from the other earlier, his warm hand caging Jihoon’s smaller one feels oddly comforting. A reassurance that he was exactly as Euigeon had described him. Jihoon musters up a small smile and nods, giving Daniel’s hand a gentle squeeze.

 

> **SCRIPTED __ 06.**

 

“Glad to see you again, Park Jihoon.” Minhyun says in his soft voice, eyes crinkling up at the corners as he ushers the younger boy into the club room, which was occupied with Seongwoo and an unfamiliar face with sharp features. Jihoon bows his head politely and takes a seat on the empty chair surrounding the table.

“You’ve already met Seongwoo and I,” the senior starts up, motioning between him and the boy with three moles decorating his cheek in a similar manner as a constellation. Minhyun’s hand stretches to point to the new face. “This is Kwon Hyunbin, he’s one of the lead actors along with Seongwoo for the play we’re holding in about 5 months.”

Hyunbin lets out a quick ‘Yo,‘ towards Jihoon and lifts a hand lazily, lips curling into a small smirk as he lets his eyes scan the entirety of the newcomer. Seongwoo clears his throat and pointedly stares at Minhyun to continue. The latter nods with a quiet hum.

“I’m sure that you already know that you’ve definitely been allocated and secured a spot in this course, judging from the audition you did a few days ago. I hope you’ve settled into the dorms well,” the tall boy smiles warmly, watching as Jihoon nod and murmur out a stream of ‘thank you’s.

“That’s not what we brought you in here for though.” He pauses, looking around the room at the other occupants. “We want to cast you into the play. As one of the leads.”

Jihoon continues to smile, not having registered the information yet. It takes a slight awkward few seconds that Jihoon keeps grinning, before the smile slips off his lips and his eyes grew round, blinking repeatedly at Minhyun’s direction. He shakily lifts a hand and points to himself. “M-Me?”

Minhyun’s eyes grew endeared with Jihoon’s reaction, laughing quietly and nodding in response. “Mhm. Seongwoo and I loved the audition so much, and the twist you added onto it. We actually altered the script to match the one on your audition to add a spin to it. Only the people who were present on your audition that day knows of the change. It adds a lot of depth to the character of Woo Sungjin, and we think you’re the perfect person for it.”

The freshman gapes at them as if they all grew multiple heads and pinched his thigh to clarify that this was a dream, because there was just no way... A small squeak leaves his lips as a sharp sting spreads on his thigh from the pinch, sending him into action and nodding quickly, bunching his sleeves up in his fists determinedly. “I’ll do it.”

“Fantastic. Seongwoo here will be playing the Minwoo to your Sungjin, and as you already know, Sungjin denies his own sexuality and pushes Minwoo out of his life to try to continue living the life that his parents wanted for him. He breaks free from that oppression when he finally turns twenty, and settles down in the city, and even finds a boyfriend. Hyunbin’s character, Inseong, will be Sungjin’s new boyfriend, until they break up due to Inseong growing distant and eventually cheating. Sungjin and Minwoo would cross paths again and the story goes on from there.”

Jihoon takes in the information diligently, brows slightly furrowed in concentration. Occasionally, he takes a peek at both Seongwoo and Hyunbin, and oddly enough, sees the similarities between the play’s characters and their respective actors.

 

Minhyun continues summarising the plot to them, and sends them off dismissively, but not without giving Jihoon a small pat on the head and murmuring a quiet ‘congratulations’ into his ear as he was making his way out the door.

Hyunbin went off on his own way the minute they were dismissed and stalked off someplace else. Seongwoo, on the other hand, stayed beside Jihoon and smiled brightly. (Jihoon quietly admires the constellation on his cheek.)

“I never got to talk to you after your audition before you and Euigeon disappeared off, but – yeah, you already know who I am.” Seongwoo starts off, walking alongside Jihoon out of the main entrance and onto the grounds. “I have some free time, so I’ll walk you back to your dorm.”

Jihoon bows his head gratefully, cheekbones lifting slightly with a small hum. He’s still a little unsure of what to say, since Seongwoo was still a junior and still needed to be respected. He offers a small grin and starts up a conversation as they walk. “Hyung, how did you get into acting?”

Seongwoo, slightly taken aback by the topic at question, feels his lips curling up into a grin nonetheless, shrugging gently as he keeps his gaze focused ahead. “Mm. I don’t precisely know the exact moment that made me realize, ‘ah, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life’. It came naturally and I guess it’s always just been a part of me. I was actually in a commercial when I was a baby! It turned me into a hit and I got all the ladies.”

The greasy smile that the older boy had on his lips was enough to send Jihoon into a small fit of laughter, shoulders shaking with giggles. “But hyung – You were a baby! You probably didn’t even know how to speak, nonetheless, flirt your way into charming those girls,” he spoke through his laughter, the older boy chuckling alongside him.

They continue their conversation with an exchange of casual jokes and anecdotes, before they reach the dormitory. Someone calls out Seongwoo’s name before they got to step in, and the latter turns around, only to see one of his friends asking him to join them. Seongwoo smiles apologetically and pats Jihoon on the head, bidding his farewell and his number so that they can engage in some more conversation and plan to hang out sometime.

 

It felt nice, Jihoon thought to himself. The feeling of finally settling down and having things work out for him. He honestly had no plan if he was to fail the audition a few days ago, and it felt like a miracle had appeared when he finished that performance and got so much praise and appreciative comments. And most importantly, he was finding some nice people to be friends with.

Kang Euigeon, he thinks with a dreamy smile. He was so helpful and always greeted Jihoon with a cheery and genuine tone whenever they pass each other, even occasionally petting his hair and squeezing his shoulder with reassurance. They had gotten some breakfast earlier before Euigeon’s morning microbiology lecture, and it left a smile on Jihoon’s lips the entire day.

Kang Daniel, he thinks with a fond grin. Euigeon hadn’t lied to him when he said Daniel melted at the mention of cats. He spent a maximum of an hour telling Jihoon about the cats Euigeon and him owned back in Busan, even showing him some pictures. His roommate had his moments where Jihoon would have to step back and compose his breathing after one of those playful smirks. Finally, the playful quips and teasing here and there. Daniel would tease him about the cute clips in his hair, and Jihoon would tease right back about his sleeping habits. (His sleep talking was quite endearing, but don’t tell anyone he said that. Especially not Daniel.)

Then, there is also Minhyun and Seongwoo. While Jihoon wouldn’t be at the level to call them his friends yet, he thinks he can trust them enough to help him out with small, inconvenient mishaps. So far, he’s just happy that he’ll be spending time with them during this play.

Everything is amazing.

 

 

 

> **SCRAPES __ 07.**

“You’re honestly such an idiot –” Euigeon mumbles, eyebrows together as he tends to the small cut on Daniel’s lower lip, the latter wincing quietly. Even though Euigeon mumbles something about that teaching him a lesson, Daniel notices the other’s touch grows considerably gentler as he sticks the small, circular band-aid to the cut.

“He started it—” Daniel mumbles but doesn’t continue the sentence, because he knows that even just those first few words exiting his mouth already sounds immature, and Euigeon’s already crossing his arms with a raised brow. Daniel jumped to his own defense.

“He really did, though! That guy is so petty and bitter.” Daniel grumbles as he rubs the side of his neck, shoulders dropping pitifully under the reprimanding gaze of his twin. “He elbowed me on purpose, in the middle of an important match. What a fucking pri—”

“Stop being so vulgar, and mind your language.” Euigeon scolds, and he doesn’t look pleased with Daniel’s reckless actions, but out of all people that know, if you look close enough, Euigeon’s nostrils flared at the mention of another person purposefully harming his twin. Daniel grumbles again.

“Hyung!” Jihoon pushes the door open with an excitable force, startling the pair on the couch. Daniel raises an eyebrow and spots the wide smile on his roommate’s lips, which slowly start to fade as he takes in the situation. His eyes quickly filled with concern and he shuts the door behind him, kicking his shoes off as he stumbles over towards the twins.

“Hi, Euigeon hyung –” Jihoon murmurs softly, smiling up at the boy before turning his worried gaze to Daniel, kneeling in front of the said boy and examining the mild grazes that were too small to need a band-aid. His lower lip juts out ever so slightly, frowning.

“What happened?”

“Well,” Euigeon clears his throat, tearing his gaze away from Jihoon’s pouty lips, taking a seat beside Daniel and lifting a hand to gently smack him on the arm. The other boy hisses softly in pain. “This idiot right here seems to have forgotten that he wasn’t in a boxing club when he got into a small fight during his basketball match and nearly got booted from the team.”

Daniel crosses his arms, the image almost resembling that of a petulant child. “I already told you, Geon. That Jongyeon kid started it.”

Jihoon shakes his head and brings his small hands to pat down Daniel’s brown hair, puffing out his cheeks. The twins both internally cooed at the sight. “You shouldn’t fight either way, hyung. It’s bad if you get hurt – I mean, it’s a bit too late for that, but – You know what I meant!”

The twin with the dirty blonde hair couldn’t help but let his previous anger subside under the small boy’s gentle touch, nodding slowly in understanding. “I’ll try to not let it happen again.”

“Eh? What’s this? Jihoon, what did you do to our Niel, hm? He caved in so easily.” Euigeon chuckles, unable to keep the small fond smile from forming on his lips. Daniel grins sheepishly and Jihoon only tips his head to the side in a questioning manner.

“I was scolding him!” Jihoon nods quickly, putting his hands on his waist in what seems like a ‘chastising’ manner, but only looked like an adorable toddler throwing a tantrum. Daniel cleared his throat to bite back a small grin.

“You came in looking like you just won a lottery though, what’s up?” He smiles, relaxing back against the upholstery of the couch. Jihoon joins the both on the couch, taking the seat on Daniel’s other side. The wide and bright smile is back on his lips and it felt like the room grew brighter.

“I was officially accepted into my course! Not only that, they also casted me to play one of the main leads in the upcoming play they’re holding in a few months,” Jihoon breathes out with an immensely happy tone in his voice. Euigeon lets out a small gasp and reaches over Daniel’s lap to wrap his arms around Jihoon and hug him tight.

“Jihoon, that’s amazing!” Euigeon exclaims, Jihoon’s happiness spreading like wildfire and his own body accepting the contagious feeling. Before he knows it, Daniel’s arms are also snaking around Jihoon’s hips, leaning his chin on his shoulder with a lazy but genuine grin.

“Congratulations, Hoonie. That’s a pretty impressive achievement.”

Jihoon sighs happily, surrounded by both twins and being showered with praise and encouragement. He lowers his head with a shy and bashful smile on his lips, cheekbones lifting and ears warming into a faint pink colour. “I’m so happy,” he whispers, closing his eyes as he relays to the both of them what had happened, never pushing their arms away. It felt like a warm blanket.

“Mm, Minhyun told me this morning. I met the two other main leads, they were casted last week. They were pretty nice.”

“Who were they?” Euigeon asks softly, resting his cheek on Jihoon’s unoccupied shoulder and relaxing despite the uncomfortable positioning of his body draped across Daniel’s lap. The latter didn’t seem to mind so he didn’t do anything to pull away.

“Kwon Hyunbin and Ong Seongwoo.” Jihoon murmurs with an excited glint in his eyes, proceeding to tell the twins about how he got walked back to the dorm. He keeps chatting excitedly, unaware of the slight tightening of both twin’s hold around him at the mention of a certain name.

 

 

 

> **PETALS __ 08.**

“I’m actually pretty worried.” Jihoon expresses in a small, quiet voice, sitting next to Euigeon as they sit together on the dewy grass, covered with Euigeon’s jacket. Jihoon had tried to convince the other boy earlier that he doesn’t mind having some grass stains on his jeans since they were green anyways (a shockingly bright green, Euigeon thought). The pink-haired boy shook his head and laid his jacket out for the both of them to sit on, anyways.

He turns his head to look at Jihoon with a small frown, unconsciously lifting a hand to place it atop Jihoon’s knee in attempt to provide reassurance. “What about, hm?”

“The play involves a same-sex relationship, two relationships, in fact. That’s not really much of a concern to me. I’m really just thinking about the fact that there’s a kissing scene in it.”

Euigeon sucks in a small inhale, as if the word ‘kiss’ coming out of Jihoon’s lips triggered his body to freeze. His eyes scan the petite boy’s expression, which held a genuinely worried expression. He can’t help but feel his lips curve up into a grin. “What’s wrong, you don’t want to kiss Ong Seongwoo?”

Jihoon’s ears grow extremely red in a matter of seconds, making Euigeon chuckle under his breath. The smaller boy shakes his head almost vigorously, waving his hands in a flailing fashion. “That’s not – That’s not it! Seongwoo hyung is very handsome, and I don’t mind kissing him for the play. It’s just. I’ve – never...? Kissed someone, that is.”

This time, it was Euigeon’s turn to grow a little warm in the cheeks, averting his eyes from staring a second too long on Jihoon’s face and instead letting his gaze settle on a ladybug taking a nap on the aglet of Jihoon’s neon pink shoelaces. (He secretly finds the younger boy’s fashion sense chaotic and endearing at the same time.)

“I’m sure you’ll do fine, as long as the two of you have chemistry.” Somehow, that left a weird taste in his mouth after he says them, but he doesn’t know why.

Jihoon’s shoulders drop, letting his body fall against Euigeon’s side as he, too, watches the ladybug nearly sliding down the plastic tip of his laces. Euigeon casted a sideways glance towards Jihoon and smiles stupidly to himself despite the fact that all he can see is the top of Jihoon’s hair.

Jihoon smells like green apples and sweet promises. Euigeon breathes in quietly and lets his head gently topple over so his cheek is resting against Jihoon’s soft strands of hair. The latter reaches in front of him, stretching out his index finger and letting the ladybug land on it, placing it onto the grass with much care and delicacy. Euigeon’s heart softens.

“Maybe I should ask Seongwoo hyung?” Jihoon murmurs absentmindedly.

“Ask him what?” Euigeon responds with an equally relaxed tone.

“If we could practice kissing –”

Euigeon’s heart jolts in its place and jerks at Jihoon’s words, eyes widening. Jihoon, whose head was firmly placed on Euigeon’s shoulder, was shaken out of its position, and before he knows it, he was face planting Euigeon’s thighs as he topples over. The older boy inhales sharply and smiles apologetically down at a pouting Jihoon who was rubbing his cheek. “Hyung, what was that for—”

The older boy lets his hand caress the cheek that smacked against his thigh, and he feels the heat emanating off its surface, Jihoon’s skin flushing a pretty pink. “Sorry, Hoonie.”

“It’s okay,” Jihoon mutters shyly, subtly leaning his cheek into the cupped touch of the pink-haired boy. He closes his eyes under the pretence of relaxation to hide the fact that he was savouring the moment a little too much. He never pushes Euigeon’s hand away.

“I don’t think you should ask Seongwoo. He’s, uh – He’s taken! Yeah. He has a boyfriend.” Euigeon was secretly glad that Jihoon’s eyes were closed, or else he would’ve seen right through Euigeon’s fib. He was never a good liar anyways. (Technically, he wasn’t really lying. Seongwoo doesn’t know when to quit his relentless pining from afar.)

“Oh, I didn’t know that!” Jihoon sits up with wide eyes, a small grin on his lips. Euigeon resists the urge to childishly pout at the loss of warmth on his lap. “That’s so cute.”

Jihoon smiles to himself, thinking about the older co-star, secretly wondering is his Seongwoo hyung is public with his relationship. He hasn’t seen a boy with him so far that looked very touchy with him. He was secretly very curious.

Euigeon’s eyes wander every feature on Jihoon’s face; his long eyelashes that seem to fan out perfectly to frame prettily-shaped eyes, a pair of gleaming orbs that seemed to hold an endless galaxy within them. Soft eyebrows that sit perfectly above those eyes, flawless skin stretching over the straight slope of his nose. Cheeks the colour oh-so-easily, and cheekbones that rise with every smile. A faint dip of the philtrum, leading all the way to the soft curve of his cupid’s bow. And finally, those lips. Such pigmented, plush lips that are just so irresistible to look at.

“You can practice kissing with me.” Euigeon says quietly, his voice almost inaudible. The way Jihoon’s eyes snap open to stare up at him says that he heard it just fine, and Euigeon can’t help but feel slightly mortified. It was too late to take it back now, though.

Jihoon was so red that it was almost concerning, and at that point, Euigeon actually starts to wonder whether he should pretend he was joking about what he said. His lips part to speak but Jihoon turns his head, pressing his face against Euigeon’s stomach and nodding shyly.

Euigeon’s heart hammers against his chest.

 

‘If I forgot my assignment at the dorms, I’m going to go into rage mode.’ Daniel mutters to himself as he recovers from his frozen position. He had run out of the dorms so quickly this morning that he didn’t even check if he had everything. He just rushed as fast as he could, not wanting to get in any more trouble with the Professor, but that seems to be what’s going to happen in a few seconds if he doesn’t find that essay he worked on overnight in the next few seconds.

He’s on the verge of cursing as the Professor descends up the steps towards his direction, until his fingers brush against the material of his folder. He almost cries in joy as he pulls it out, brows pulling together curiously when he sees a post-it note stuck to it.

‘Hyung! I hope you had even just a few hours of sleep. I snuck this into your bag just in case you forgot it, because I know you’re probably lacking sleep and won’t be able to remember everything. I also put a yogurt drink in the side-pocket of your bag. Hwaiting!’

Peeling off the sticky note with a wide, endeared grin, Daniel passes the folder into the Professor’s hand, the middle-aged woman raising an eyebrow at the unfamiliar sight of Kang Daniel harbouring an expression other than a scowl. She pauses, wanting to ask, but shrugs it off and moves onto the next student without another word.

‘Park Jihoon is an angel personally sent to me by the Gods,’ Daniel murmurs under his breath, rousing the attention of his seatmate. He waves dismissively and bites back the smile threatening to climb to his lips once more.

‘I think I’ll buy him some meringue on the way home. Boy’s got a sweet tooth,’ he thinks to himself, pulling out the yogurt drink and sipping contentedly.

 

Euigeon’s been in Daniel’s dorm room countless of times before, but he reminds himself that it wasn’t just Daniel’s anymore. It was his and Jihoon’s. It was a small change but for some reason he felt more affected than ever. Maybe it was due to Jihoon’s shy glances, his small fingers playing with the hem of his sleeves. Maybe it was due to the quiet but tense silence looming over them as they meet each other’s eyes but turn away almost as quickly as it happens.

Jihoon feels as if his heart is about to claw its way out of his chest and impatiently make its own move on Euigeon had the silence been delayed any further. There was a slight tremble in his fingers, and he doesn’t remember any other point in his life where he’s felt so nervous. (Not even the audition put him into such a state of nervousness.)

There really was no turning back from this, Euigeon thought to himself as he scoots closer to Jihoon on the bed, heartbeat going haywire and mind swimming in the thoughts of Jihoon, Jihoon, Jihoon. “Hoonie. May I – May I kiss you?”

The younger boy nods and shuts his eyes tightly, fingers clenched into tight fists on each sides of his body. Euigeon watched with fond eyes and feels his breath get caught in his throat. God, what is Jihoon doing to him? This boy, how was he so precious?

“Hey – Jihoon. Sweetheart,” It fell so easily from his lips, the nickname. “Relax, it’s okay. It’s just me. Don’t worry,” he whispers softly, hands moving up to cup Jihoon’s cheeks, and sure enough, the latter was shaking slightly under his touch. Euigeon breathes out a small sigh and smiles as he presses his forehead against Jihoon’s. The younger boy sucks in a small inhale and his trembling ceases a tiny bit. An improvement, nonetheless.

Euigeon lets his own eyes fall shut as he closes the distance, lips pressing against Jihoon’s, the latter muffling a quiet gasp against his mouth. His fingers move away Jihoon’s jawline and slide into his hair, keeping him steady and still as he lets his lips do the work; taking control of the kiss.

Jihoon’s shaking fingers move up to hold onto his biceps, unsure of where to settle on top of. Euigeon smiles softly into the kiss, his free hand coaxing Jihoon’s arm around his neck to hold onto him. Jihoon whimpers quietly into his mouth and Euigeon smooths his lips against Jihoon’s silken petals.

Kissing Park Jihoon was exactly as he had imagined it to be; sweet and calming. It felt like he was coming home to warmth and lulling saccharine affection. It was almost dizzying, kissing Jihoon. His arm winds around the small waist and pulls him closer, lost in the sea of sweet green apple.

Jihoon shyly moves his lips against Euigeon, reciprocating as much as he can. His hug around the pink-haired boy’s neck tightens ever so slightly, and they both topple back onto the mattress in one fluid-like movement. Jihoon sucks in a sharp breath at the new position, but Euigeon only continues to kiss him. The caress of their lips was slow and lazy, no underlying push and intent for more. Just floating and an equal balance of giving and taking.

Jihoon feels so warm all over, and he feels as if he’s been set ablaze.

 

The jingling of keys was faint and muted through the barrier of the door, but in their lip-lock where it seemed they were more hypersensitive to their surroundings rather than blinded from it, Euigeon and Jihoon jolt away from each other, Euigeon falling back onto the carpeted floor with a loud ‘thump’. The door opens with renewed vigour.

“What was that loud noise –” Daniel starts, but stops at the doorway when his eyes land on two frazzled-looking boys. Jihoon, who looked like he’s a child who got caught red-handed stealing some candy, and his twin, nursing his hurting butt with a pained whine.

Euigeon clears his throat and sputters out a smooth lie, still groaning a little at the impact of his butt against the carpeted ground. He sneaks a small glance at Jihoon, who mouths a small ‘sorry’. “We were practising Jihoonie’s script, and we saw a spider, so we kind of had a wild goose chase. Except the spider was the one chasing us—”

Jihoon snorts into his palm and bites back a small grin.

If Daniel noticed that Jihoon’s script was nowhere to be seen, he didn’t say anything about it.

 

 

 

> **ADORE __ 09.**

 

“Who was that?” Euigeon asks with a raised eyebrow as Daniel hangs up on the call, a small pout on his lips. His twin munches busily on pistachios, eyes never leaving the scene happening on the screen. It was another romantic movie, much to Daniel’s chagrin. The latter takes a seat by Euigeon’s feet on the edge of the sofa, grumbling.

“Minhyun wants me to come over to move some heavy props into the warehouse,” he explains, eyebrows furrowing as he reaches over to sneak some pistachios for himself, Euigeon too lazy to bat his hand away. Instead, the pink-haired twin sits up and crosses his legs as he lets his back settle against the upholstery of the leather couch. He grins at Daniel, almost too brightly.

“Let me do it. Classes are cancelled this week since the Professor had to order more Petri dishes and a new incubator. Hyungseob, that clumsy kid, put them in fridge without taping them up properly and the bacteria colonies had a massive party.”

Daniel snorts into his palm and rolls his eyes. Hyungseob’s held that reputation since freshman year, and he’s been proving himself more and more reckless each day. He smiles gratefully at his twin. “You sure? Thanks, Geon.”

Euigeon shrugs with a small grin, playfully messing up Daniel’s gelled up hair, the latter groaning loudly as he tries to salvage the previous style without much success. “That took me twenty minutes!”

“Good luck fixing it for another twenty minutes, then –” Euigeon laughs as he pushes himself off the couch and towards the entrance, a bounce in his step as he grabs his shoes and pulls them on. Daniel raises an eyebrow and watches from the couch, quietly thinking to himself.

For the past two weeks, Euigeon has come over to his dorm more times than he can count on one hand, and had been willingly volunteering to help Minhyun out whenever Daniel complains about it. And of course, that was a normal Euigeon thing to do, helping people out without even a second of hesitance. There was something different these past few times though, Daniel thinks. Euigeon looks so much more excited and enthusiastic about helping, and what the reason was, he doesn’t know. He was both thankful and slightly confused at the same time.

Euigeon ties up his shoe laces and waves Daniel goodbye with a cheerful grin as he pushes through the door and closes it behind him, leaving Daniel with his thoughts.

 

 

The theatre was busier than ever, the backstage crew bustling in and out from behind the curtains and reporting to Minhyun where each item was going and asking when to call the characters out for their cue. Euigeon’s sitting with Jihoon near the back of the theatre, helping the younger boy out with his lines. (Jihoon didn’t really need help, but Euigeon’s presence beside him gave him so much reassurance and encouragement.)

Minhyun had given Jihoon a break and decided to get Seongwoo to perform his parts on stage. Jihoon had made the most of it by letting Euigeon take his hand and pull him over to the back corner of the theatre to practice the younger’s lines. For the most part, Euigeon keeps up the promise, but he doesn’t stop himself from stealing a few kisses from a flustered Jihoon.

“H-Hyung! The script –” Jihoon whines quietly against the taller boy’s shoulder, hiding his reddened face. He hears the older boy’s soft and deep laughter against his ear, and he relaxes into the embrace, letting his eyes fall shut as he basks in the warmth.

This was a nice change, a very welcomed one, too. Ever since the incident back in Jihoon’s dorm a few weeks back, there’s been a slight shift to their dynamic. It was never brought up into their conversations, but it was obvious that they shared mutual affections for one another. Euigeon would occasionally pop into Jihoon and Daniel’s shared dorm and hang out for a few hours, pressing secretive kisses along Jihoon’s nape whenever Daniel’s not looking.

Euigeon would proudly flaunt whatever this relationship he had with Jihoon, but he knew it wasn’t simple. Jihoon was aware of that too, and made him promise that they would take this slow. Euigeon, in the back of his head, knew it was more complicated than just being Jihoon’s first relationship of any sort. There were people like Daniel and Minhyun who would undoubtedly have their say in the relationships he had, no matter what happens.

(He knows it’s just them being protective, but it was a little suffocating sometimes.)

He wants to be with Jihoon, despite only knowing him for less than a month. There was just so much about the younger boy that draws him in, and he knows that the feeling was very mutual.

Jihoon, the very subject of his thoughts, lifts his head up from Euigeon’s chest and smiles up at him, enticing lips glossed over with a thin sheen of cherry-flavoured lipbalm. The pink-haired junior straightens up and presses an affectionate kiss against Jihoon’s forehead, whispering softly.

“Go back to Minhyun, sweetheart. They’re calling you over.”

The smaller boy’s eyes widen and he turns his head, and indeed Seongwoo had finished his scenes and they were calling for him. He turns back to look at Euigeon and nods, going on his tip-toes to press a quick kiss to his cheek before pulling away and heading back to the front of the seats, clutching his script in his hand and waving at Minhyun to signal his presence. Euigeon is left smiling stupidly to himself as he lifts a hand to the cheek that Jihoon kissed.

Euigeon sighs out a soft breath of relief; he made sure they were in the hidden innermost corner of the hall, so there was not a chance that Minhyun would’ve seen them. Dusting himself off, he emerges from the shadows and heads towards the door leading to the back of the stage, unaware of the pair eyes following his movements with amusement.

 

Seongwoo descends the stairs and passes Minhyun with a small smile, telling him that he was going to the bathroom, which the latter replied to with a nod and a dismissive wave of a hand. Jihoon waves at him with a grin and he returns it with a playful wink, strolling through the centre walkway of the theatre and halting his movements when he spots a figure sitting lazily on the very last row of the seats. His previous smile slips away slowly and his steps come to a stop.

“Kwon Hyunbin, you actually showed up for rehearsals this time.”

The tall boy chews on peppermint gum, as he usually does, and Seongwoo averts his gaze from the lips which curve up into a small smirk. Hyunbin speaks up, familiar voice deep and low.

“I wanted to see how the new boy is, acting-wise. Minhyun hyung seems awfully enamoured by the boy, so I wanted to see what was so special.”

Seongwoo got ready to defend the smaller boy, a list forming almost immediately in his mind on what was so amazing about Park Jihoon. His lips part to speak, but Hyunbin interrupts with a chuckle.

“Imagine to my surprise, I spotted him and Euigeonnie,” Seongwoo grits his teeth at Hyunbin’s tone as he says Euigeon’s name. (It was mocking, a sneer.) “Clinging to each other and stealing kisses in the dark – How cute, don’t you think?”

Seongwoo’s words short-circuited in his mind at the taller boy’s words, brows pulling together into a frown. His eyes narrow at Hyunbin and turns his head to look at Euigeon, who was passing through the door backstage, but not without sending a lingering look up at Jihoon. Seongwoo’s fists uncurled at the sight, eyes widening and causing Hyunbin to snicker.

“Have fun relaying the news to Daniel.”

 

 

 

> **PUSH __ 10.**

 

“Kang Daniel, get your ass up and actually leave your dorm for once,” Jisung nagged as he pushed his way into the junior’s dorm, waking up a grumpy Daniel who only clung to his blankets tighter. Jisung crosses his arms and motions Seongwoo to pull off the covers from the figure on the bed. Seongwoo smirks and jumps onto the bed to forcefully yank the blankets off, coaxing a loud grunt of complaint from Daniel.

“Wake up, sleeping beauty! Even your roommate is awake and gone out early.” Jisung shakes his head, giving the brown-haired boy’s arm a small but unforgiving smack. Daniel whimpers and sits up, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. He promptly kicks Seongwoo off the bed and smiles to himself.

“Okay, now I’m willing to get up.”

“You piece of shit!” Seongwoo grumbles, rubbing his butt. Jisung beams at his success at getting Daniel out of bed, only able to solemnly smile at Seongwoo and thank him for being a worthy sacrifice to Daniel’s unbearable morning moodiness.

Seongwoo pushes himself off the carpet and takes a seat on the edge of Daniel’s bed, eyes following the latter’s movements. Jisung makes a bee-line towards the kitchen, leaving the acting major on the bed, alone with his thoughts.

Hyunbin’s words from yesterday echoes in his head, and he sighs softly under his breath, not knowing what to do. Daniel wouldn’t be happy hearing the news, despite having a slight soft spot for Jihoon. Seongwoo knew that, because Daniel had his reasons for being overly-protective of Euigeon, despite being the younger twin out of the two. People have tried to get on Daniel’s good side, which will temporarily work, until it’s revealed that they’ve been trying to sweep Euigeon away.

An angry Daniel is not a pleasant Daniel. The twins have been through a lot together, and no, it’s not some deep-rooted brother complex and jealousy that stems the younger twin’s protectiveness. Rather, it was a lack of trust in people, if that wasn’t obvious with his carefully selected small group of friends.

Seongwoo sighs once more and slaps on a small grin when Daniel’s all-dressed up, and the three of them head out of the dorms to get some brunch from a nearby café.

 

“How’s Jihoon as a roommate so far, hm?” Jisung quips as he links his arm through Daniel’s, and Seongwoo watches a small grin form on Daniel’s lips. The latter’s bunny teeth become visible, and Jisung, who was used to Daniel acting tough and bad, coos loudly at the sight.

“Wow, look at that smile – Jihoon must be an angel, like everyone seems to say.”

Daniel nods and his grin never leaves. “Yeah, he’s an angel. He helps me get stuff done, and he always sends me off to classes with cute, little post-it notes. He’s adorable.”

Seongwoo nods with an agreeing smile. “Mm, he’s one of those cute texting buddies, too. He sends me a lot of kaomojis. He’s like, the epitome of uwu.”

“What? He doesn’t send those to me –” Daniel grumbles, lower lip jutting out slightly.

Jisung snorts and smiles smugly. “He lets me smooch those cute cheeks of his!”

Daniel whines with clenched fists. “I never got those either, what the – “

“Euigeon’s gotten more than just kisses from Park Jihoon,” a voice pipes up from beside them, and Seongwoo freezes, turning his head, only to see Hwang Minhyun walking beside the three of them. Daniel’s playful whining comes to a stop and his eyebrows draw together into a small frown.

“I’ve known for quite a while, but – I didn’t say anything at first, since I haven’t seen Euigeon so happy.” Minhyun says softly, an unreadable emotion on his face. “I couldn’t just let it be without telling you, though. Jihoon – as nice and adorable as he is, we don’t know much about him. He’s too mysterious, and I’m not sure if I can let it be without knowing more about him –”

“Euigeon and Jihoon? Park Jihoon as in, my roommate Jihoon?” Daniel interrupts sharply, and the three guys beside him turned to nod at him, only to be taken back with the blank look on his face. Daniel has by now completely stopped walking, eyes settled on the ground ahead of him.

Seongwoo casts a worried look at Minhyun, only to see a knowing look on his expression, much to Seongwoo’s dismay. The three of them already know what would happen.

“Hyung, I saw this cute ladybug in the park today, do you think it’s the same one who clung to my shoelaces?” Jihoon’s voice pipes up from afar, and Daniel’s head snapped up, zeroing in on the two figures walking alongside each other. Jihoon was peering up at Euigeon with such fond eyes and something ugly within Daniel twists as he watches Euigeon’s hand take Jihoon’s in his.

“I don’t think so, sweetheart. There are millions of ladybugs out in this world.”

“But it was so small, I’m convinced they’re the same ones!”

“How about you show me later then, mm? You have rehearsals again, right? I’ll help out.”

“Really? Can we get ice-cream again after?”

“Of course, baby.”

 

In that moment, it clicks to Daniel. Why Euigeon had looked so much brighter as of recent, and why he’s been repeatedly volunteering to take Daniel’s place in helping Minhyun hyung out in the theatre. Daniel wonders to himself when Euigeon had become such a smooth liar.

“This won’t do,” he mutters, eyes never leaving the couple even as they enter the dorm buildings. Seongwoo frowns and bites down on his lower lip, Jisung rubbing his nape awkwardly. Minhyun sighs and squeezes Daniel’s shoulder.

“I already know you’re whipping up a plan to steer Jihoon away from your brother, for “Euigeon’s sake”, but please Daniel. Don’t screw things up. Jihoon’s still your roommate and I can’t afford any distractions to one of my lead actors.”

Daniel shrugs off the words, a sinking feeling in his stomach as he starts walking again, the trio following him cautiously, in case he bubbles up in anger.

There once was a time where Daniel felt happy that Euigeon was finding friends and seemed to glow brighter than any stars combined. His twin brother was always so shy, so introverted growing up, and it felt like a miracle that he was finding people to be around, opening up and letting them in.

A few betrayals and a heartbreak later, he became closed-off once more, and Daniel had never felt more lost. It felt heart-breaking, seeing his own twin suffer and push everyone away, apart from his twin and the current friends he had managed to maintain to this day.

Jihoon was kind, and nice, and adorable. Daniel liked everything about the smaller boy, but something ugly within him itches to push the boy away from Euigeon; save him from the hurt. Jihoon was just so – perfect… He was almost too good to be true. That perfection scared Daniel. He couldn’t afford to see Euigeon in the state he was in before. Jihoon was a mystery, a threat.

Daniel needs to drive Jihoon away from the Euigeon, and he’ll do it no matter what it takes.


	2. update sched & reason for absence.

>          

hello, my fellow readers. it's me, ya boi. the first update and chapter of two kangs vs. park jihoon was posted on september 2017, but unfortunately, i couldn't update and i'll tell you why. on october 2017, just a month after the first update, i got mugged and my phone was stolen from me. the entire work for two kangs vs. jihoon was on that phone, and it discouraged me to fuck when it happened. getting mugged isn't a traumatic deal, you might think, but for me, it happened during the late night, and no one around me helped because there was barely anyone there in the first place.

i don't know if other writers feel the same way when your entire piece that you worked so hard for, disappears just like that. it's horrible. and i thought about discarding the plot idea just in general. but like i said, i worked so hard on it, and i've grown attached. why it took so long for me to pick myself back up and get writing again? i re-read your comments and couldn't let you guys down. even though most of you who read this when it came out have already forgotten. i wanted to say all of this sooner, but i was just so unmotivated by everything, and i just pushed myself away from writing. i could've told you guys about it but i didn't want any backlash of any sort?? for not update. and just. e x h a l e s .

let's move on to the update schedule.

the next update will be **tomorrow at the latest, 10pm saturday gmt+1 time**. i've written it already, but i want to make sure it's perfect. it's about 17k+ words.

the following update after that is **tuesday, 1st of may**.


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